Review Summary: Hide from the Sun is a pretty decent album, although this album lacks the magical touch that made their previous effort, Dead Letters so successful. However, this album could've been too under-appreciated.
Firstly, I do not live in Europe which is a wonder how i actually had some sorta infatuation with this particular band. I loved The Rasmus and followed their every move (so to say) for 2 years. & now, my current obsession is taken over by AFI. Anyway, i really feel that this album is a mirror image of Dead Letters, if not over-shadowed by the mega success of their hit breakthrough single, In the Shadows. It seems that these guys are trying to make potential hit singles with every track in this album. Some may think that this might come as a good sign, but in these guys' case, it only spells catastrophe.
Some tunes in Hide from the Sun are pretty darn good, no doubt. But a few spins later, you feel quite tired over lead singer Lauri Ylonen's sandy voice. Their song-writing had never been good, you've gotta admit that but they have always came up with melodious almost-gothic sounds. In fact, they are really great at it. Although in Hide from the Sun, these aforementioned sounds are tied to one segment of the genre their forced to be classified into. It wouldn't hurt if they actually became more adventurous, in my oppinion. Somehow, most of the tracks in this album have this pop-ish sound to it, probably trying to break into mainstream again.
Opening number, 'Shot' starts of with a pretty good vibe. Giving you that strong urge to tap your feet and it smoothly, almost without haste, flows into the extremely infectious chorus of this song. This song grows on you on every listen & Lauri's vocals did much to add that extra flavour to this song. Great drum beats from Aki tops it off.
The only thing about this next song, 'Night after Night (Out of the Shadows)' worth mentioning is that it begins on a high. Excellent choice to follow the 'Shot'. However, after the superiority of the verses, the chorus seem to be out of place. You feel almost as if you're being cheated to think that greatness was to come, but end up having a stinky chorus. And that (out of the Shadows) thing was not necessary. I mean, c'mon, this clearly shows that these guys were trying to make a carbon copy of their past album.
Sadly, the next few tracks that follow this disaster of a song is worse.
'Lucifer's Angel' just wouldn't work properly in my ears. In my own humble oppinion, this track could've been better with less "trying-to-be-eerie" motives. Could've worked.
Thank goodness, though, that The Rasmus finally come back to their sense and give us quality numbers like 'Last Generation' and 'Keep Your Heart Broken'. We are slowly brought back to reality that The Rasmus are trying too hard with nonsensical tracks like 'Immortal' & 'Dead Promises'. I wouldnt dive in further into the lyrics because this is obviously not what these guys are good at, basically. Still, 'Immortal' boast of a clear, energetic melody but too much screaming of lyrics that dont make sense could've killed my ears. It was crystal clear to see that The Rasmus were attempting to sound gothic with constant use of words like immortal, suicide yadda, yadda, yadda....ok. another useless effort.
'Don't Let Go' was basically a lame excuse of a song. The new 'experiments' could have been "creative" but failed miserably to have that certain feeling.
In conclusion, The Rasmus should be bolder and try some certain new things. They should not be kept in a cage where they're not allowed to evolve. 'Hide from the Sun' is just an average album, in fact, it was wayyy below average if compared to many of their previous afforts. I guess mainstream success is dangerous and could do much harm to the way we want things to be. Here's hoping they wouldnt be too overshadowed by another great album.
